8/16/2010 @ 6:53PM

America's Most Stressful Cities Methodology

To pinpoint the most stressed-out cities, we started with the country’s largest 40 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas, measuring them on six metrics. We looked at circumstances that are closely correlated with inducing stress or that result from stress: high unemployment, long commute times, long work hours, limited access to health care, poor physical health and a lack of exercise. We then averaged the rankings for all of those metrics to arrive at a final score.

Unemployment

Percentage of the labor force that was unemployed in June 2010 (the most recent data available by metropolitan area at the time of writing). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Long Commute Times

Percentage of commuters who spent 60 minutes or more traveling to work in 2008 (the most recent year for which data were available). Source: United States Census Bureau.

Long Working Hours

Average weekly hours spent working in 2008 (the most recent year for which data were available). Source: United States Census Bureau

Limited Health Care

Percentage of the population who did not have any kind of health care coverage in 2008 (the most recent year for which data were available). Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Poor Physical Health

Percentage of the population who ranked their health “poor” or “fair” in 2008 (the most recent year for which data were available). Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Limited Exercise

Percentage of the population who had not exercised in the past month in 2008 (the most recent year for which data were available). Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.